Abstract

TONIAL, Fernanda Guzzo et al. Impact of caries disease on the quality of life of preschoolers who received medical care at the clinic of the University of Passo Fundo (UPF/RS). Arq. Odontol. [online]. 2015, vol.51, n.1, pp. 47-53. ISSN 1516-0939.

Aim: To evaluate the impact that early childhood caries cause upon the quality of life of preschoolers who received medical care at the hospital clinic of the University of Passo Fundo (UPF/RS). Methods: Seventy-nine children and their parents who sought treatment at the UFP/RS, Dental School, participated in this cross-sectional study. Physical examinations were conducted and a B-ECOHIS questionnaire was applied to the children's parents. Dental examinations were performed according to the precepts of biosafety set forth by the World Health Organization (WHO). Data were described by parameters of mean, standard deviation and median. To compare the scores with gender, the Mann Whitney test was used. To compare the scores between age groups and early childhood caries, the Kruskal Wallis and Dunn's post-hoc test for multiple comparisons was used. A significance level of 5% (p < 0.05) was adopted for all tests. Results: It was found that the age of the child and the presence of early childhood caries have a negative impact on the quality of life related to oral health. Children aged 24-35 months showed less improvement than children of 36-47 months and ≥ 48 months. Caries-free children showed less improvement in the quality of life than did children with caries. Conclusion: Therefore, the prevention of caries is of utmost importance, since the disease affects the psychosocial environment, interfering in the areas of autonomy, function, family, and leisure of the child.

Keywords : Quality of life; Child. Preschool; Dental caries.